[Mike Blackwood]

On Mon, 23 Sep 2002, Bruce Robertson wrote:

> BTW ~ Mike, did you hear about Snorri, the Icelandic
> Newf? First Noram born Viking, apparently, who's hut
> they unearthed in Iceland last week. Seems he was
> quite a legend these past 1 000 years - the first
> Canadian celebrity export, and the first Newf to leave
> home to make it rich, I'd allow b'y   :)
> 
I didn't know about the hut being uncovered, but his mother brought him 
back from Vinland (the colony on great northern peninnsula of 
Newfoundland) as a young child.  The colony only lasted 15 to 25 years, 
and eventually the Norse provoked enough hostility with the natives to get 
themselves driven out.  I worked for the Newfoundland Museum's exhibit 
"Full Circle, First Contact" back in 2000 (the 1000th anniversary of Leif 
Erikson founding the Vinland Colony), so Snorri was a well-known topic for 
me.  I had no idea his dwelling had been found.  How do they know it was 
his after almost 1000 years?  Was it really discovered in Iceland?  i 
would have thought Greenland would have been more likely...

Mike

ps: we named our Knarr (a small Viking skiff) replica Snorri during the 
Full Circle Exhibit.